Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start an online business and it’s even easier to manage your AliExpress dropshipping orders. Zappos, Amazon, and eBay all use dropshipping successfully as a part of their business model. If you’re interested in dropshipping then you should try out AliExpress. AliExpress allows you to start your own dropshipping business quickly and easily. You don’t have to hold any inventory– in fact, AliExpress suppliers can ship products directly to your customers. You can also use AliExpress shipping tracking to check exactly where your customer’s package is. As dropshippers, it’s important to know exactly what to expect from AliExpress suppliers. In this post, I will outline some of the most common questions which ecommerce entrepreneurs have about AliExpress orders management. The answers in this article will help you to manage your AliExpress drop shipping orders better and explain AliExpress fulfillment.

What’s the Refund Policy for Drop Shipping Orders?

Most of the time, any issues with your drop shipping order can be resolved by communicating with your supplier. However, depending on the severity of the situation, you might need to escalate your case to AliExpress. AliExpress take any issues with drop shipping issues seriously, so you’l be protected on that front.

In general, refunds are accepted when the product doesn’t arrive, or if it’s not in satisfactory condition when it does arrive. This can usually be resolved through open communication with the supplier — however, if you don’t receive a satisfactory response from your drop shipping supplier, you can escalate it to a formal dispute.

Formal disputes indicate that the buyer is dissatisfied with some aspects of their order and wants the supplier to fix the situation.

According to AliExpress, you can open a dispute from the 6th day after the seller ships out the products up to the day the dropshipping order has reached its destination.

To start, sign-in and click on the “My Orders” button on the home page. You’ll see a list of all of your drop shipping orders. From there, you can select “Open Dispute” and begin a formal escalation for your drop shipping order.

Where Can I Access Aliexpress Shipping Tracking Codes for My Dropshipping Orders?

AliExpress shipping tracking codes are the most important thing when it comes to placing your drop shipping orders– it’s the only proof you have that shows your dropshipping order is currently en route to your customer.

Then, once the supplier ships the order, you’ll get your very own AliExpress shipping tracking number so that you can track the shipment. You can access the tracking number in the transactions section of AliExpress (which you can see after logging in). You can use your AliExpress shipping tracking number to inform your customers about the current progress of their drop shipping orders, and give them an estimation for when they will receive their products.

Pro Tip: You can also automatically fulfill orders using Oberlo. It’s as simple as selecting “Get Tracking Number” on the ‘Your Orders’ in Oberlo’s Chrome Extension. From there, Oberlo will locate your AliExpress shipping tracking number, automatically fulfill the order in your store, and send your customer a shipping confirmation email to say that their dropshipping order is complete. It’s as simple as a few clicks.

AliExpress Shipping Tracking: How Long Does It Take for an Order to Arrive?

When selecting products from AliExpress, you can sort them based on their estimated shipping times. If you see products which have the ePacket delivery option available, you might want to check them out. ePacket delivery is one of the most affordable expression delivery options on AliExpress, meaning that your drop shipping orders will get to your customers quickly. ePacket delivery usually costs under $5 and your customers will receive their product in under 14 days.

The ePacket delivery option isn’t available for every drop shipping order. You can only use ePacket delivery for a select number of countries, like the United States, Canada, the UK, and most European countries. If one of your customers wants to check where their drop shipping order is by using the AliExpress shipping tracking number, it’ll be less overwhelming to see that it’ll arrive within a couple of weeks, compared to the free 60 day delivery option.

How Do I Check the Status of My Drop Shipping Orders?

First, you can track your drop shipping orders on AliExpress, with third party tools like 17track.net, AfterShip, or Oberlo. You should check the order status of your drop shipping orders frequently, so that you can catch any problems before they escalate — maybe your product has shipped much later than expected, or it’s stuck in transit. This way, you can alert your customers quickly if there’s a problem.

Next, There are a just a couple of steps that go into checking order status:

Now, sign into your account on AliExpress and go to “My Orders”. Next, check your order status through the tabs below.

If you find that your shipment status is late, you can contact your supplier directly and ask for a product reshipment. Then, email your customer(s) and inform them of the shipping problem. Let them know that the order is on its way, and that they can keep both products at no extra charge when they arrive.

Order Status Email Scripts

Here’s an email script you can send to your supplier:

Hi [supplier name],I recently checked my order status for the [product name] that I bought from you, and I noticed that it still has not been shipped despite the fact that the agreed shipment time frame was [X days].Could you re-ship another product?

Here’s a message you can send to your customer:

Hi [customer name],I found out today that your [product name] that you ordered from [site name] has had a delay in shipment. I’ve re-shipped another product to you.In case both products arrive to your address, you can keep them both for no extra charge.Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything else I can help you with.

Pro Tip: You can also check the status of your drop shipping orders on the Oberlo orders page. All orders containing Oberlo imported products can automatically be found on the “My Orders” page.

What If the Delivery on the Drop Shipping Order Is Late?

You can protect yourself against late deliveries by checking the seller’s “On-Time delivery guarantee” time, and making sure that the delivery date you’re looking for falls into that guarantee time.

However, if the drop shipping order doesn’t arrive to the customer on time, you must send a refund request within 15 days of your order placement.

Then, if the AliExpress shipping tracking code is inactive for five business days, you can email your supplier to ask for an update — you can find the tracking codes through the Oberlo fulfillment monitoring page. Once you’re on the page just filter the orders that have an expired or unrecognized AliExpress shipping tracking code, and contact those suppliers.

Now, here’s an email script you can send to your suppliers:

Hi [supplier name],I noticed that the tracking code you provided me for my [insert order] is expired. Could you please confirm whether the order has been shipped?If it doesn’t become active in the next two days, I’ll be forced to open a dispute.

What If My Customer Is Unhappy With Their Purchase?

If your customer is unhappy with their purchase, they must return it to you unused. From there, you can send it back to your supplier. This applies to all products that are covered by Domestic Returns.

To return a product, go on the “order details” page. Then, select “open dispute”, and click “easy returns”. From there, you can easily submit your refund request. The supplier gets five days to respond. If you’re unable to reach an agreement with the seller, you’re eligible to get a full refund for the product as long as you return it within ten days.

To make sure that you keep the best possible relationship with your customers, you should accept returns to your own store. However, don’t ask customers to send it to your supplier. Then, you can either re-ship those products to other customers or keep inventory for the future.

“How do I know if the products are real?”

You can ensure the products are genuine by verifying product coverage under the “Guaranteed Genuine” program.

However, if you purchase a “Guaranteed Genuine” product and it happens to be counterfeit, you’ll still get a full refund including shipping costs.

“What does buyer’s protection cover?”

In the event that the product you receive is different from its description.

If the goods turn out to be counterfeit despite being in the ‘Guaranteed Genuine’ program.

Don’t worry, if you don’t receive your order within the delivery time you can get a full refund. Furthermore, you can get a partial refund if the item is different from the product description.

To take advantage of buyer protection, contact the seller and state your issues. However, if you can’t resolve the problem with the seller, open a dispute. From there, you can formally discuss the problem with the seller. Then, if you still are unable to reach an agreement, you can escalate the dispute to AliExpress who will act as a meditator.

“How do I cancel a dropshipping order?”

If you want to cancel any of your drop shipping orders, you’ll have to contact and reach an agreement with your supplier before the ship date.

First, sign into the “my orders” section, and click the “cancel order” button for your order.

“How does AliExpress protect my payments for drop shipping orders?”

If you buy from a supplier on AliExpress, you can pay securely with your credit card. Don’t worry, the details are secure due to the highest level of commercially available protection — VeriSign SSL encryption.

Next, you can also use an AliPay account, which we recommend. You can add your credit card info to AliPay (similar to PayPal). Then, submit your ID card to verify that you’re the actual account holder. Lastly, you’ll use a PIN code to purchase a product on AliExpress. This way, you don’t have to enter your credit card information every time.

Related Posts

Raghav Haran

Raghav Haran is a marketer and entrepreneur. After building a successful online business and living a location independent lifestyle, he writes content to help other entrepreneurs do the same. Follow him on Twitter @RaghavHaran

Hi Kay, you will rarely find a legit brand product on AliExpress unless it’s a Chinese brand or something promoted in partnership with AliExpress on their homepage or other main pages. I always suggest to look for non western brands products or ask your supplier for clarifications.

Zornitsa

Thank you for the nice tips! I need an advice, do you think it is a good idea to put a Track your order field on my website? Because when the clients check their orders with the tracking number, it will be obvious where the goods are comming from? I don’t want my customers to know that they come from China. Another question is, if don’t provide a trucking number to my customers and they ask for such, what should I tell them?

Tyler PF

What if you’re based in Canada and you have your supplier in China ship to your customer. It will seem unprofessional to do that and it’s expensive to absorb two shipping prices: supplier > you > customer and if you pay for two shipping to conceal your suppliers info than you end up making the customer wait 2-3 weeks for their order.

Thankx for the helpful post! May I clearify? You mean one gets refund including shipping costs only in case of “Guaranteed Genuine” but usually refund doesn’t include shipping costs, right?

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Depends on your agreement with the supplier. They will have to cover the shipping costs if you prove that’s necessary.

Sasha Mann

Thank you, Rita. I’ll keep that mind. I have one more question, i don’t see if anyone already asked about it.

I’m not sure if it’s necessary for online stores to click the button “confirm order received” on Aliexpress to confirm that a client got his order. Is it necessary? If I don’t click it, if it has any influence on something.

Mike

Hey, Raghav, great tips! Got one question though – if customer wants the tracking number to check status of the order by themselves, they will see it is shipping from AliExpress. So, what is the best way to overcome this? Thanks!

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey!

By clicking the button you inform your supplier that the item is received. It’s no big deal if you forget that, but generally it’d be nice to let them know that you got the package 🙂

Ruta Ganusauskaite

Hey Mike!

They won’t see it is from AliExpress in particular. It will indicate that it’s coming from China, though. But that’s okay, as you might have your distribution centres spread all over the world 😉

Mike

Thanks Ruta, figured that out in the past couple of days testing the system 🙂 However, thanks for answering and clarifying 🙂